Forward
by csiAngel
Summary: Missing scene for 4x22. Spoilers! "Phil was three feet from the door when a hand softly touched his arm..."


Title: Forward  
Author: csiAngel  
Rating: K+  
 **Spoilers: Missing scene for 4.22 so spoilers up to and including that episode.  
** Disclaimer: I do not own Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D..  
Summary: "Phil was three feet from the door when a hand softly touched his arm..."  
A/N: Just a little missing scene from the season finale.

... ... ...

Phil Coulson smiled as he walked towards the diner with his team. Yes, things were still very much a mess, but they were together. They were alive. In their line of work you had to embrace those small victories or else you would forever dwell in darkness. You mourned your losses; you expressed your anger, but, ultimately, you moved forward. Otherwise every sacrifice would have been for nothing. And not one fallen comrade would ever have wanted that. Over this dinner they would toast Jeffrey Mace and the others they had lost in their recent battles.

Phil was three feet from the door when a hand softly touched his arm, encouraging him to wait. Turning to Melinda May, his smile dropped a little as he frowned, questioningly. May looked nervous. And the rarity of that put Phil instantly on edge.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just want to speak to you for a moment."

"Second thoughts?" he asked, worried she had changed her mind about supporting his plan.

"Not about this," she replied, tilting her head in indication of the diner as she spoke.

That left their agreement regarding their relationship. "Oh come on, Melinda, we haven't even -"

"I just need to know something."

Anxious that she was finding reason to pull much further back than they had agreed, Phil tentatively acquiesced, "Go on."

She looked at him silently for a moment, something akin to indecision dancing in her eyes. Then she softly asked, "Did you kiss her?"

Phil's eyes widened: He had not expected that. "Did I -"

"Did you kiss her?"

Emboldened by the fact that she was choosing to talk about this, Phil took a step closer to her. Lowering his voice for their new proximity he answered her, "No..."

He couldn't be sure if it was relief or disappointment that flashed across her face before she pulled it back under her control. He decided it didn't matter. She had asked the question; she would have to face up to the answer.

So, taking another step closer to her he continued, "I kissed _you_... Yes, it turned out not to actually be you, but I was very much kissing _you_."

She seemed surprised by that but he couldn't tell if it was his admission or the fact that the kiss had taken place that had surprised her more.

And her next action didn't clarify things at all:

May nodded, just once, her face completely unreadable.

"That's it?" Phil queried. "I tell you I kissed you and you nod?"

She narrowed her eyes slightly as she replied, "I suppose robot-May was more emotionally responsive?"

He had known it was too much to expect that she would just forget that comment about her robot-self having been more supportive.

"You're never going to let that go, are you?"

"It's unlikely."

This train of conversation had broken her mysterious silence but Phil wasn't prepared to just blindly follow this tangent. He needed to know what had prompted her question. Taking another step towards her, bringing them practically toe to toe, he enquired, "Why did you ask if I'd kissed her?"

"You were all squirmy about giving me mouth to mouth, so I was curious."

"And you just had to know. Right now?"

"Well, maybe I'd been thinking about our deal and ... We've spent years taking steps back. Maybe we should try something else?"

Now it was Phil's turn to be surprised, at her echo of the LMD's words.

"What?" she asked him, frowning.

He shook his head to ward off her concern. "She said something similar."

"Oh... Well, maybe that part was me?"

"Yeah? The flirtatious part?" he smirked.

"Sounds like me," she quipped with a small smile.

"So you think we should move forward?"

"Before we miss any more chances. I've already missed out on the Haig."

"That's not going anywhere either, is it?"

"No."

He accepted that with a shrug of his shoulders, "Seems fair." Then he inched closer, nervously bring his hands up to rest on her waist. It was hardly the first time he had touched her, and it wouldn't be the first time he had kissed her, but it would be the first time it was real. Not undercover. Not with a robot. And as that reality set in, he found himself slightly terrified.

He was relieved when her hands settled on his arms. He knew it was irrational to worry that she didn't want this given that she was the one suggesting they move forward, but, there it was all the same.

"Are you sure you don't want us to -"

"I'm sure. But if you -"

"No. No... I like your plan."

She smiled and they pulled each other closer, her hands sliding up to his shoulders, his slipping round her back.

"You realise the team is probably watching this," he pointed out as their heads drew closer.

"You realise the team is probably thinking it's about time."

"I know that feeling."

"Then let's get on with it."

"You know, robot-May was less -"

He didn't know if she was impatient to kiss him, or tired of hearing his robot-May comparisons, but Melinda May - the real Melinda May - was kissing him, so it really didn't matter. He tightened his hold on her, kissing her fervently, simultaneously delighted and scared, relieved and excited.

It was Melinda who eventually broke the kiss - because, honestly, he never would have - her hands now on the back of his neck, fingers gently playing in his hair.

"Want to compare that to robot-May?" she asked him with a confident smirk.

He grinned and nestled nearer. "Couldn't even begin to."

"Good... We should go inside."

"If we have to."

She smiled at him and they met in another kiss, slow and languid, this time, melting into each other, memorising the moment.

When they parted, Melinda rested her forehead against his.

"Whatever happens next," she whispered, "We're coming back to this."

"Definitely."

They shared one more gentle kiss, then stepped back. Their hands naturally found each other, fingers entwining as they walked into the diner.

They pretended not to notice that their team had quite obviously just run for their seats. Just as the team pretended that they hadn't seen a thing.

They took the two seats that had been left for them, and they picked up their menus.

As Phil perused the options, from the corner of his eye he caught Melinda watching him. She looked away when he turned to her, but a smile was dimpling her cheek.

Looking back to his own menu, he moved his hand across to settle on hers, and her thumb moved to stroke his fingers.

A poorly suppressed squeal from Daisy was the only comment from the team, and May squeezing his hand was her only remark about that.

Phil smiled. Yes, things were still very much a mess, but they were together. They were alive. They were moving forward.

And whatever happened next, they were definitely coming back to this: Because there was no way this was how their story ended.

THE END


End file.
